Trying not to be a Facebook Wanker is a difficult enough feat in your normal day-to-day life. I’ve already posted something today, can I post something else? Will people get that this is sarcastic? Have I had this profile picture for too long? It’s the modern day version of social etiquette after all, so these things matter.
But when you’re travelling, the chance you are going to massively piss off your friends and followers is greatly increased. Here’s my top tips for being social-media-savvy and considerate to your friends and family at home when you’re travelling.
DO NOT POST ALL DAY, ERRYDAY.
Facebook etiquette has evolved over the last few years and it is no longer socially acceptable to post whatever you like every hour of the godamn day. And if you wouldn’t be posting every hour on the hour at home, why should it be different when you’re travelling?
I realise every moment of every day is an amazing memory you want to share with everyone you know. But try to hold back, people don’t need to know your every move. Obviously you want to capture the amazingness, but that is what your travel blog is for.
DON’T SHARE EVERY BLOG POST ON FACEBOOK
A travel blog is an amazing way to keep in touch with your friends and family at home, but also for you to write down all of your experiences to look back on in the future. But it doesn’t need to be on Facebook all the time.
I think it’s acceptable to write a status linking to your blog at the beginning of your trip to see if any of your friends want to read it and follow your adventures. And it’s also cool to share a particularly special post such as a travel highlight you really want to share with people. But other than that, don’t ram it down people’s throats. They know you have a blog, if they want to read it they will. A daily blog post link will get boring, fast.
KEEP GLOATING TO A MINIMUM
Yes, it’s totally awesome that you are travelling the world, having kickass adventures and meeting super-cool people. But you have to be tactful about how you word that in your Facebook statuses.
Gloaty status example:
“Having the best time ever, 40 degree heat on the beach with a mojito – wish you were me? #SorryNotSorry”
People will hate you and hide that shit from their timelines.
Better status:
“Snorkelling in Ningaloo Reef was such a lovely day! I found Nemo!”
Ok some of your friends will still be jealous but you’re allowed to share your adventures. Just don’t rub it in, got it?
DON’T DO THE MONDAY PHOTO
This is something I really hate but everyone who is out of the country tends to feel compelled to put it out there. It is usually a photo of the beach with tanned feet and a beer in their hand with a caption along the lines of ‘Don’t you just hate Mondays’.
It kills me.
Mondays are hard enough for the 9-to-5ers at home on their horrific morning commute without having to deal with this shit. (Can you tell I’m not travelling at the moment?)
PICK YOUR PROFILE PICTURE WISELY
It’s commonly accepted that you can’t update your profile photo too often. It’s annoying when profile changes keep coming up on your News Feed and it will make you look a little self-absorbed. But I know that when you’re travelling you have so many photos of you looking tanned and happy in these gorgeous locations… I think every 2-3 weeks is an acceptable rotation on your travels.
All I’m saying is think about it before you post it. Is this the one you want on your profile for the 2-3 weeks? On your first day travelling you might take a photo of yourself on Khao San Road and want to post it as your profile picture immediately so that everyone knows you’re travelling. But just give it a few days. There will be better photos when you’re not jet-lagged and have a better tan going on!
UPLOAD PHOTOS IN BATCHES
Uploading photos every day makes your friends get a bit bored of it all. Oh yes another pristine beach, lovely. It also makes you look a bit ‘like-hungry’ as you upload it all in different posts.
I think it’s much better to save it up for an album. For example if you spend 2 weeks in Sydney then move on, post a Sydney album at the end of the 2 weeks rather than supplying a daily update. Your friends will prefer going through an album and people that don’t want to see your photos won’t feel like you’ve bombarded their Facebook feed.
BUT DON’T POST THEM ALL!
This isn’t the place for every single photo you’ve taken. That’s what Dropbox or The Cloud or Photobox is for. This is your medium for showing your friends your highlights of your trip. Besides, even if you do upload 300 photos, chances are anyone looking at them will give up after a couple of minutes of scrolling.
On a recent trip to Italy I took over 1,000 photos but only posted my favourite 36 photos. And it actually made the album look a lot better! Only the best, yeah?
SUMMARY
Just don’t be a Facebook wanker, okay? For the record all of the above points also refer to people who have just had babies.
Do you know a whole load of Facebook Wankers? Do these things make you hide people from your News Feed? Let me know in the comments below or tweet me @HeelsInBackpack!
Nice post! Made me laugh but your’re absolutely right! Nice blog keep on going girl
Thanks Juli! Glad you liked it!
Agree! I barely use facebook these days anyway – too many baby pictures haha!
Totally haha!